Looking back at 2009 and forward to 2010

An exciting and successful 2009 comes to an end and we want to use the holidays to thank you for your participation, support and dedication for EuropeanPWN-Amsterdam. Only with active members like you, were we able to host 12 main events, 6 workshops and many borrels in Amsterdam & The Hague.

We kicked off our 2009 theme ‘Crossing Borders, Opening Doors’ with Regina Mehler, Marketing Director Central Europe & Emerging Markets at Adobe Systems who was questioning the apparent crisis and saw it more as a huge opportunity. In February we hosted an extremely successful event with IBM’s Women in Blue and welcomed Susan Goldsworthy, CEO of Goldswolf and former VP Communication at Tetra Pak to ‘Unlocking Potential, Improving Performance’. Vanessa Borchers, Talent Partner at Deloitte, introduced the model of ‘Mass Career Customization’ to our membership in March and in April we welcomed two ladies who crossed borders in science and technology: Helma Kip, manager regulatory affairs and sustainable energy at Essent and Petra Rudolf, Professor of Experimental Solid State Physics of the University of Groningen. Mieke Damen, former VP Operations at Mexx, advised us on how to find our ‘Networking Balance’ and in June we enjoyed the inspiring speech of Jolanda Prijs, director at FranklinCovey Netherlands, to ‘Lead for Greatness’ during our annual summer dinner.

Our summer program was packed with fun out-of-door terraces and the ever popular St. Nik boat club canal trip. In September Paula O’Connell introduced us to strategies on how to make ourselves relevant in a recession and to develop a personal career plan. Together with the Rotterdam School of Management EPWN Amsterdam also organized the panel ‘Female entrepreneurs – the saviors of our economy!?’ during which successful female entrepreneurs including Eleonore Breukel shared their visions on their contributions to our economy. In October Michelle Brailsford, president of our EuropeanPWN chapter in London and founding partner of Jupiter Consulting Group, codified for us the rules of the political game in organizations and Andrea Martins, director and co-founder of ExpatWomen.com, shared with us inspirational stories of a variety of (hugely successful) expat women. Stephanie Ward ignited the Wisdom Wildfire during our annual Speed Networking session in November. During our December event ‘DSM: Passion for People, Commitment to Diversity’ we welcomed Jackie Cuthbert, Senior Vice President Global Recruitment and Learning and Xander Wessels, President DSM Food Specialties at Royal DSM N.V.

On January 11th we are going to kick off the New Year with a genuine highlight: Fons Trompenaars, one of the most influential management thinkers and true guru on culture and business, will share his views on ‘Riding the Whirlwind: Culture & Innovation’. Please register for the event as seats are limited.

We would like to thank all of you – also in the name of the entire board of EuropeanPWN Amsterdam – for your interest in our events, your active participation, your inspiration and support. We are looking forward to see you at many events in 2010; you are welcome to spread the word about our network amongst your colleagues and friends. If there is anything that you missed in our programming or if you would like to suggest speakers, topics or themes, please get in touch with one of us. The folks in The Hague will welcome you on January 5th for a new year’s borrel and the Amsterdam board welcomes you January 27th in Amsterdam.
Mentors/mentees, don’t forget to fill in your online “matching” applications as promised.

Wishing you a very Happy New Year and all the best in 2010!

On behalf of the board of EuropeanPWN Amsterdam,
Anna Farrenkopf & Katharina Pohl